Global indicators suggest North American stock markets are facing a second day of losses Wednesday.

North American markets dropped sharply yesterday and fresh waves of selling hit Asian markets overnight.

In today’s economic news, Canadian manufacturing shipments tumbled 1.8% in June to $48.6 billion, the largest decline since January, Statistics Canada reported today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US92.65¢ on Wednesday, down 1.1¢, after falling 1.19¢ Tuesday as the likelihood of interest rate increases fades in the financial liquidity crisis.

South of the border, a big drop in the cost of gasoline contributed to the modest 0.1% gain in U.S. consumer prices in July, the U.S. Labor Department reported today.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food, rose by just 0.2%, the same as June, providing a hopeful sign that inflation is easing.

In M&A news, IPC US Real Estate Investment Trust has found a buyer in Dallas-based Behringer Harvard REIT, which is proposing an all-cash bid valued at US$1.4 billion. Behringer Harvard said the deal for Toronto-based IPC, which invests exclusively in U.S. commercial real estate, is worth US$9.75 per unit.

In earnings news, Iamgold Corp. took a US$93.7-million impairment charge in the second quarter related to its under performing Mupane Gold Mine in Botswana. The Toronto-based gold producer reported late Tuesday a quarterly loss of U$81.4 million, or 28¢ per share, compared with a profit of US$29.8 million, or 17¢ per share, in the 2006 period.

Nestle reported an 18% profit rise, lifted its earnings outlook and announced a US$21 billion stock buyback.

Light sweet crude oil rose 35¢ to US$72.73 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as tropical storm Dean strengthened in the Caribbean and headed west.

In overseas trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 1.47%, Germany’s DAX index slipped 0.99% and France’s CAC-40 dropped 1.49%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 2.19% to 16,475.61 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 2.87% to 21,375.72.

Toronto stocks finished lower Tuesday, registering a nearly 200-point loss, as investor pessimism continued to grip the market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 184.83 points, or 1.38%, to 13,242.62.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with only the information technology group and the consumer staples index managing a positive finish.

The financials group fell 1.51%.

The junior S&P TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 101.28 points, or 3.51%, to 2,784.60.

In New York, continued worries over a tightening credit environment, led by the fallout in the sub-prime mortgage market, and negative earnings guidance from Wal-Mart had investors continuing the market’s recent bearish run.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 207.61 points, or 1.57%, to 13,028.92

The Nasdaq composite index fell 43.12 points, or 1.70%, to 2,499.12, while the S&P 500 fell 26.38 points, or 1.82%, to 1,426.54.